The following focuses on one passage, and one controversy, in the two line struggle between the RCP and Kasama. The main documents begind discussed here are Mike Ely’s “9 Letters to Our Comrades Getting Beyond Avakian’s Synthesis and the RCP’s response. (with the title “A FRAMEWORK TRAPPED IN THE BOUNDS OF “THIS AWFUL CAPITALIST PRESENT” – NOT A RADICALLY DIFFERENT WORLD”).
By John Steele
Making general comments about the RCP response is fine, but I think we really need to get more into the particulars and do some detailed analysis and refutation.
Take just the first page. The third paragraph of the Response begins:
“In a nutshell, the essence of Mike Ely’s criticism of the RCP, in his view, is that after many years in existence, it does not have “a mass partisan political base,” and the main reason is because of its “denigration of practice” and moving away “from actually organizing people in struggle” on one hand, and its “dogmatism” and its one-sided overemphasis and insistence on “theory and ideology” on the other hand….”
This is simply not the case. Not only is this not the essence of the critique — it is, in fact, not the criticism at all.
The following introduction is written by a supporter of the Kasama project. It addresses some initial issues around the RCP’s response to the “9 Letters to Our Comrades.” These are initial notes, intended to deal with one or two points, not the whole or overall point of the RCP’s response. More will be coming day by day over the next week.
by Sam S.
Disclaimer to this post: Most of what you will read here is going to be painfully obvious, but none-the-less I feel it is important to address strawman arguments and distortions. This may feel a bit tedious to some so I apologize in advance.
From the RCP Response:
“A FRAMEWORK TRAPPED IN THE BOUNDS OF “THIS AWFUL
CAPITALIST PRESENT” – NOT A RADICALLY DIFFERENT WORLD”
“To start and clearly distinguish the framework of Mike Ely and the Nine Letters, let’s take some particularly stark and clarifying examples, from his political program, his comments on ideology, and his criticism of the RCP’s policies. While each of these aspects will be dealt with more thoroughly later, here we want to illustrate some particular points of approach to begin to illuminate the basic framework of Mike Ely and the Nine Letters, a framework that is ultimately and objectively destined to remain within the bounds of this capitalist system.
“The following formulation in the Nine Letters captures the essence of what it is that Mike Ely is bringing forward in opposition to the revolutionary communist line of the RCP: “A revolutionary organization has to be integrated into the struggles of the people – directly in its own name while connecting with (or initiating) a variety of other organizations. And it has to draw the thinking and activity of people toward creatively conceived communist solutions to this awful capitalist present – a task which can only be accomplished with methods that are bold yet sophisticated (not hackneyed or infantile).” (Emphasis ours) [Letter 3]
Baburam Bhattarai pointed to a bouquet in his study and said: “People who never looked at us before are coming here to give me flowers.” Flanked by portraits of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao, the chief ideologue of the Maoists spoke to Nepali Times on Tuesday about sleepless nights, his party’s economic agenda and about whether he’d been offered the prime ministership.
Nepali Times: How does it feel to arrive here after the long journey from a village in Gorkha?
Baburam Bhattarai: There is a deep sense of responsibility, and that comes from the fact that I was born in an ordinary village family, my mother can’t read or write, my father is a farmer. As a child I used to tend livestock and help in the farm, and when I went to high school I had to carry water and cook for myself. From that to be able to go to a good school and be educated, and to have that contrast in one lifetime is fascinating in a way. But now we have been brought to this position where we have to try to resolve issues of national importance, there are enormous aspirations, there is lots to do but we have very little time and resources. It makes us somewhat anxious, thinking about whether we can do it or not. There are sleepless nights, getting up at three in the morning and not being able to go back to sleep.
Quickly following the 1949 communist victory in China there was sharp struggle over whether to take the socialist road or the capitalist road. The new democratic revolution (and the rapidly exploding anti-feudal agrarian revolution sweeping across rural areas) shattered the old feudal system — and objectively opened the possibility of two different opposed roads in china…. one leading toward capitalism and the other toward socialism.
We are posting here a famous essay by the Maoists, written during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, digging into some forms that struggle over roads took. It is part of a larger work called “Three Major Struggles on China’s Philosophical Front.” ( Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1973.)
* * * * * *
THE THEORY OF “SYNTHESIZED ECONOMIC BASE” MUST BE THOROUGHLY CRITICIZED
Shortly after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Liu Shao-chi instigated Yang Hsien-chen, his agent in the philosophical circles, to put out a theory of “synthesized economic base,” starting a major struggle on China’s philosophical front. It was a struggle of principle concerning the road China was to take, the socialist or the capitalist, whether China was to have a dictatorship of the proletariat or a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
The theory of “synthesized economic base” was actually a variant of the reactionary “theory of productive forces” which is, in turn, an idealist conception of history serving as the common “theoretical basis” of the revisionist trend in China and abroad. Such pseudo-Marxist swindlers as Liu Shao-chi and Yang Hsien-chen had all along used such reactionary theory to push their counter-revolutionary revisionist line and shape public opinion for their counter-revolutionary activities of opposing the proletarian revolution, overthrowing the proletarian dictatorship and restoring capitalism.
Two of Mao’s most famous sayings come to mind, over and over, while studying events in Nepal:
“Political power grows from the barrel of a gun.”
“The people and the people alone are the motive force in history.”
The first one should be a reminder: Leading a government is not the same as seizing state power. Winning an election is a sign of who has won the hearts of the people, but state power ultimately rests on the question of who controls military forces within the country.
That was the heart of the political dilemma, and the tragedy, in Chile (over the early 1970s): The socialist forces of Salvadore Allende won the hearts of the votes, and won the presidency, but did not have the organized military force to face (or defeat) the reactionary Chilean army. The CIA and Chilean high command plotted a military coup, that unleashed a vicious counterrevolution. Allende was killed in the coup, and many thousands of radical activists and supporters were rounded up, tortured and murdered.
By Gary Leupp
The following article appeared on Counterpunch Apri1 16, 2008.
It ought to be the ballot heard ’round the world. It ought to be front page news. But chances are you haven’t yet learned that the Maoists of Nepal have apparently swept to power in an election that international monitors acknowledge was free and fair. Having led a People’s War from 1996 to 2006, having suspended the armed struggle and making a strategic decision to seek power through electoral means, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has apparently acquired an absolute majority in national elections for a constitutional assembly.
Prime Minister Girija Koirala, representing the Nepali Congress Party, has congratulated CPI(M) leader on the success of his party. The Congress Party, aligned with its Indian counterpart and traditionally supportive of the Nepali monarchy and its Hindu religious trappings, seems to have come in a distant third in the national vote, behind the Communist Party (United Marxist-Leninist). The latter, having spurned Maoist overtures to unite, is in crisis; its leader has resigned and declared it “morally inappropriate” to continue to participate in the current coalition government.
It looks as though Maoist leader Prachanda will emerge as national leader under the presidential system his party advocates. The constitutional assembly will shape a new Nepal as a secular republic. Land reform, laws against debt servitude and child marriage, laws liberating “outcastes” will follow. The Maoists regard Nepal as a pre-capitalist country, which requires a period of capitalist development before it can embark on socialist construction. They say they welcome foreign investment and tourism. They want friendly relations with neighboring China and India. They want to build a railroad conveying Buddhist pilgrims from Tibet to Nepali religious sites. They want, with some help from Jimmy Carter, to persuade the U.S. State Department to remove their name fro the list of “international terrorist organizations.”
They also want to plant the Red Flag on Mt. Everest, big enough so it might be seen from the moon, like the Great Wall of China. That’s what they’ve said.
Realism and poetry. A vision for today, and for tomorrow. The Maoists of India (in particular, the Communist Party of India [Maoist]) continue their People’s War, creating the red corridor that extends from Andra Pradesh up to the Nepali border. They have expressed doubts about the Nepali comrades’ strategy of participation in elections, and emphasized their dedication to Mao’s dictum that “political power grows out of the barrel of the gun.” But they will take heart in the Nepali Maoists’ victory. Unless the Nepali Army (formerly the Nepal Royal Army and still led by pro-monarchist and anti-communist generals), or external forces move to prevent the Maoists’ rise to power, Nepal will emerge as the base-area of global revolution. That’s something else the Maoists have said.
the following is a student documentary film that interviews urban youth about their views and experiences regarding love and sex. It is clearly limited by focus on the more educated and more affluent, it opens the door to a discussion of patriarchal feudal conditions facing women — which have been increasingly challenged as part of the revolutionary process.
There is a great interest among the youth of Nepal for a break with the arranged marriages — and growing experimentation with “love marriages” (by mutual consent). This is true in the urban areas, but also in many areas touched by the Maoist revolution (including within the ranks of the peoples’ liberation army).
There is also widespread outrage over the trafficking in women — both the growth of domestic prostitution (connected to the tourist trade) and the “export” of young girls and women to the brothels of India (south of Nepal). Some of those conditions are touched on in this film.
Interview with Shyam Shrestha, Former Chief Editor of Mulyankan Monthly Magazine, conducted in Kirtipur, Nepal by Johan Petter Andresen (Dated April 13, 2008. Thanks to Monthly Review)
Mulyankan monthly magazine is the largest leftist monthly magazine of Nepal, with a circulation of 30 000 copies per month. Shyam Shrestha has been actively seeking to promote a broad left unity in Nepal.
(Kasama publishes the views and reports of forces that we do not necessarily agree with, to help our readers understand what various forces are saying, seeing and doing.)
JPA: What do we know about the results of the election to the Constituent Assembly, now three days after?
Shyam: To this date the Maoists have won 47 seats out of 84 in the first past the post part of the election, CPN(UML) 16, Nepali Congress 12, Madhesi Forum 6, Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party 2, DMDP 1 and the People’s Front 1. The Maoists will also win the proportional part of the election, maybe even by more.
As of the end of the day on Monday, April 14th, winners have been declared in 184 of the 240 “first past the post” constituencies. Of these the Maoists have won105, the Nepal Congress 30, the UML 24, and the Madhesi Forum 16. The final results for the 335 proportional representation seats will not be known for several weeks, but it is now certain that in the forthcoming Constituent Assembly the Maoists will at minimum be the dominant bloc with as many seats as the next three largest parties combined. — Ed.
JPA: Can we say anything about the representation of Dalits, women, ethnic and national minorities in the forthcoming Constituent Assembly?
Shyam: The proportion of these groups will be increased significantly, because in the proportional system 50% should be women, 31% Madhesi and so on. In the first past the post part this is not compulsory, so in totality the proportion of women will be minimum 33% instead of 6% which is the proportion in today’s interim parliament. This is an historic high. Janajati (ethnic minority) people will also increase their representation. Not by exactly 37%, decided by the interim parliament, but it will increase. A Madhesi party, MJF already have 6 representatives. Dalits and backward regions will also increase their representation. So all these groups will have a multiple increase of representation compared to the previous parliaments.
JPA: What do you think are the main consequences of the election for the parties in Nepal?
Hisila Yami is already known to readers of Kasama as Comrade Parvati – the name she was known by from the underground of the Nepalese peoples war. The following interview was conducted in Nepal by Johan Petter Andresen and was published by Monthly Review. It is dated Sunday, April 13th, 2008.
Hisula Yami has just been elected to the forthcoming Constituent Assembly from the constituency Kathmandu 3 — “Asaan,” the crowded ancient center of the city — with 12,276 votes, as against 8,815 for her nearest competitor, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha of the “center left” Communist Party of Nepal (UML).
This is an interview with Hisila Yami, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). It was conducted by Frontlinjer/Campo Antiimperialista in English in Norway during December 2007. Thanks to Fire on the Mountain for making it available online.
Part of what it discusses is Hisila Yami’s explanation of the how the current moment is unfolding as a substage in the ongoing of New Democratic revolution — a substage focused on the final defeat of the monarchy and the political work to win broad support among those sections of the people drawn into that anti-monarchist struggle. There was some editing and notes added by FotM contributor Skwisgaar Skwigelf.
F/CI: How does the CPN(M) see the current stage of the struggle in Nepal?
Hisila: We took a new course after the people’s war; we chose a new form of struggle. From the outside it might look simpler, but seen from the inside, it was a much more difficult course. We took a zig-zag path, as we were near to the smashing of the old state, we felt that the US and India was closing in to smash us. This situation could have led to a never-ending war. Today we gain through the legal struggle and on the streets.
Before, we followed a military strategy, where the politics were influencing the military situation. Now we follow a political strategy, and it’s much more difficult. Read the rest of this entry »
Nepal Maoists emerge as major force after historic poll Nepal National Friday 11th April, 2008 (IANS)
A ragged group of people who dreamt impossible dreams and dared to take on Nepal’s powerful army with homemade guns and bombs, Nepal’s Maoist guerrillas established themselves as a formidable force in the 90s when they prevented elections and inflicted punishing losses on the security forces.
Two years after they laid down their guns and marched back to the parliament they had derisively branded a ‘meat shop’, the rebels have proved to be an equally formidable political force with the historic constituent assembly elections unexpectedly showing their support.
“According to latest reports, CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda has won in Kathmandu constituency-10 with a huge vote margin, as his party has also taken an initial lead in seat counts. Our reporter at the vote-counting center said that the official announcement for the same would be made shortly. Nepalnews.com, (www.nepalnews.com) is a leading Internet destination dedicated to bring you news, events, polls, discussions, forums about and from Nepal. Our primary objective is to bring “news as it happens”; quality news which is impartial, timely and independent. Our equally important other objective is to make this a web community for all people around the globe who have any interest, or need any information about Nepal.”
The eyes of the world are on Nepal, as a nodal point of their revolution has emerged around the elections for the CA gathering that will debate restructing the society and government.
One way or another things may come a head: Nepal is a country with two armies, one revolutionary Maoist and the other monarchist-oppressive. It is a country where millions of people are determined the old order must go, and are now engaged in a huge fierce debate and struggle over WHAT should replace that old hated order. And in the mix is a creative, massive revolutionary Maoist force (that is also divided into visible wings over direction and goals).
and it is a country with the massive modern Indian army posed at its border — not far from the camps where the Nepali Maoist guerrilla armies have been gathered.
Nepalese society is going through a much belated and popular “bourgeois democratic revolution” (against feudalism) — while this Maoist force is fighting to open a road to socialism by leading that democratic revolution toward the establishment of a revolutionary power of the oppressed.
It is a source of real bitterness and shame, that we revolutionaries in the U.S. are not in a position to reach out broadly to the people around us here — to help politically explain to them the stakes and lessons of this important struggle. The previous organized Maoist forces (centered on the RCP) have simply refused to conduct such work. And we at our Kasama project are still too new-born and primitive to have gotten a serious campaign off the ground (yet!)
STUCK IN THE “AWFUL CAPITALIST PRESENT” OR FORGING A PATH TO THE COMMUNIST FUTURE?
A Response to Mike Ely’s Nine Letters*
By a writing group in the RCP
INTRODUCTION
Mike Ely and his Nine Letters are wrong on every single question that matters. These Nine Letters constitute a highly unprincipled and opportunist attack aimed at the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP,USA) and its leadership.
Nepal is in the midst of the intense struggle over the direction of society — as the April 10 constituent elections are held. The Maoists (of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) are contending and seeking to dominate these elections.
Kasama received the following talk from the World People’s Resistance Movement (WPRM) of Britain. Comrade Gaurav (C.P. Gajurel) is in charge of the International Bureau of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)-CPN (M). This speech was given at Goldsmiths College, , University of London, on Nov. 11, 2007. Gaurav started by thank the WPRM and Prof.John Hutnyk for organizing the program. The subheads are ours.
Events are moving in unpredictable ways in Nepal, as the April 10 election for the Constituent Assembly approaches. We urge you to circulate the link to Kasama’s Nepal resources widely on by email and online discussion.
Today’s news is dominated by the death of seven Maoists from police fire in Lamahi in Dang, western Nepal. It’s difficult to discern what actually happened through the predominantly anti-Maoist media, but what is certain is that there were no casualties for the police — the result that speaks for itself. The killings came just two days before the historic elections of a Constitutional Assembly, the first democratically elected Constitutional Assembly in Nepal’s history. The Maoist leadership have responded to the deaths by urging their members to show restraint and go ahead with the elections. The pre-election death toll has been by far the highest among Maoists. Meanwhile in another place a UML candidate was killed in a confrontation between UML and Nepali Congress cadres.
In the Terai plains, various groups who are boycotting the elections have declared a bandh (stoppage). How this will affect the vote tomorrow is hard to predict, but according to UN officials these groups have some sway. The bandh is directed at pedestrians.
An RCP supporter, using the name “This won’t get center-paneled” (TWGCP) posted a sharp criticism of the 9 Letters. (I will reproduce it in full at the end of my comments here.)
I want to point out something very positive about this polemical criticism of our 9 Letters:
His/her post is the first time an RCP supporter has (correctly) treated this conflict as a two-line struggle over line — which it is. And I think it is worth reading what they say with some care. It is worth welcoming this new focus on line, instead of personal attack — and my personal speculation is that this may forshadow the response of the RCP tomorrow, which (from its title) will argue that the 9 Letters represent a revisionist package, capitulation, and a road away from communist revolution.
If we can engage and deepen this, on such a high plane of two line struggle, then the struggle of the last few months will have accomplished a great deal. Many people watching this conflict, and wanting to understand the issues have been truly surprised (and even outraged) by the RCP’s shallow and dismissive approach. that outrage may have now forced them to change track… and that would be a real victory (not for me, or 9 Letters, or Kasama — but for the debate and struggle itself).
The following focuses on one passage, and one controversy, in the two line struggle between the RCP and Kasama. The main documents begind discussed here are Mike Ely’s “9 Letters to Our Comrades Getting Beyond Avakian’s Synthesis and the RCP’s response. (with the title “A FRAMEWORK TRAPPED IN THE BOUNDS OF “THIS AWFUL CAPITALIST PRESENT” – NOT A RADICALLY DIFFERENT WORLD”).
